Chapter 120: C & N Investigations
*Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. – Miguel de Cervantes*
Once the court was adjourned, Steve quickly made his way out of the courtroom and to the main lobby. He knew what was coming and wanted to be prepared. Looking at the cameras, he picked the best location for everything to be filmed. The security kiosk was only a few feet away. He nodded to the guard and opened the messenger bag and pulled out the copy of the file that had been turned into the lawyer who gave it to the judge.
As if it was scripted, Henry Fargo and his entourage exited the elevator and headed for Steve. With a motion that was second nature, he switched on his lapel camera and waited for the men to reach him.
“What the hell was that?” Henry demanded.
Steve handed him the file. “If you remember, I offered to provide you with everything that I had compiled. You declined and asked that I appear here with the file. You also obviously did not read the contract. Both of those are on you.”
Henry grabbed the file out of Steve’s hand and stormed off. Hank and his aunt and uncle followed in his wake. When they reached the house that Hank and his siblings had grown up in, the house next door had the ‘for rent’ sign back in the yard.
Walking over, Henry peered into the windows and saw that it was empty and sparkling clean. With a roar of frustration, he returned to his own home and poured a large glass of whiskey.
“Where are those damned papers?” He demanded and his sister dutifully handed them over.
The first thing that he did was to read the contract. This time he did not just skim over it like he did before. The contract clearly stated that the company would investigate violations of the prenuptial agreement.
For both parties.
It laid out everything that they would search for. Then, there in Henry’s handwriting, was all their information. Names, birthdates, phone numbers and email addresses. He had even provided his son’s social security and driver’s license numbers. Bank accounts.
Angrily, he sat down at the dining table and began to spread out everything else in the folder. Pictures of Hank with Rachel and their kids. Pictures of Jolene after she was admitted into the hospital. Copies of his children’s birth certificates.
With his name clearly listed as the father.
“Why the hell did you let her put your name on the birth certificates?” Henry demanded.
“They’re my kids!” Hank yelled back.
“Fucking idiot.” Henry muttered.
Then there was a full accounting of all of Hank’s finances and assets. Even the bank account in the Cayman Islands was listed. With that information, Henry knew that people would start asking more questions. The kind of questions that would not be good for *anyone* in the family.
“You have fucked over this family!” Henry yelled at his son.
“I’m not the one that hired that damned company!” Hank yelled back.
“I was trying to help you!” his father countered.
“Do they have a website?” Alexander Devonshire asked.
Henry read off the website on the contract and Alexander typed it into his laptop. Father and son continued to yell at each other as he looked over the website that popped up.
“Go fix us something to eat.” He ordered his wife, Regina.
Quietly, she stood up from her spot on the floor and moved into the kitchen. Dishes were piled around the sink and across the counters. It was obvious that Amber had never come back. Before Regina could do anything in the kitchen, she began to wash dishes and clean the mess from the two men.
She had been coming over every few days to take care of her brother and nephew. At first, she could not believe that Amber had opted to not come home and to leave her husband. He had provided for her. Gave her a nice house to live in. She gave him sons.
What more could she want?
But then, Amber had met her at the grocery store. She had taken Regina’s purse and placed it in the freezer and closed the door before she ever said anything.
“They track us. I don’t know how he tracks you. But Henry had a bug in the lining of my purse.”
“Alex would never do that.” She had defended her husband as a good wife should.
Then Amber had placed a phone in her hand. “Don’t ever turn it on at the house. They’ll be able to detect it. Hide it. When you’re ready and you see that there is a better life, call the number that’s programmed in it.”
And then she simply walked away. Regina got her purse out of the freezer and dropped the phone into it. She had planned to tell her husband and brother about seeing Amber. Giving them the phone. But something stopped her.
Later that night, under the guise of organizing her purse, she checked the lining. There was a small incision that had been carefully stitched up. When she got brave enough to cut it open, she found a small tile inside the lining.
She found them inside all her bags. In the lining of her favorite jacket. A few days later, as she dusted, she found the cameras all over her home.
Living room.
Kitchen.
Bedrooms.
Bathrooms.
For the first time in her life, she questioned the actions of the men in her life.
“Henry, did you do any research on this company?” Alexander asked and brought Regina out of her thoughts as she finished loading the dishwasher.
“I glanced at the reviews on the website and Google.” Henry admitted.
“And you really think that Peggy Bundy left a glowing review after helping with her divorce from her husband, Al?” Alexander asked calmly. “Or George Jefferson in helping him to find Louise?”
Regina turned away from them and opened the refrigerator, hiding her smile. They thought that they were so smart. They watched everything. They knew everything that was going on around them.
And they were fooled.
“You realize that since they have his information for the Caymans, it’s only a matter of time before they find our accounts?” Alexander pointed out.
“We’ll close the accounts.” Henry said as he grabbed his phone.
“How am I going to explain to the judge that I have nearly two million dollars in an offshore account?” Hank demanded. “And I have to give her half!”
“We have much bigger issues than your money.” His uncle said, fear tinging his voice. “I have no way of protecting us anymore. How long do you think we have until the cartel wants a return on their investment?”
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